NFL Patriots coach Belichick's father dies

November 22, 2005

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Steve Belichick, the father of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, died Saturday night of heart failure. He was 86. "I coached this game with a heavy heart," Bill Belichick said after Sunday's 24-17 win over the New Orleans Saints. "My dad passed away. I found out about it the middle of last night." The Patriots' coach learned his meticulous game preparation by watching his father, an assistant coach at Navy for 33 years. Steve Belichick was a familiar face around Gillette Stadium, and was the first person Bill Belichick embraced after New England's 24-21 win over Philadelphia in February's Super Bowl, the team's third championship in four years. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi doused the duo with a container of icy-cold liquid. The elder Belichick, a Struthers, Ohio, native, played football and basketball at Case Western Reserve University, graduating in 1941. He played fullback with the Detroit Lions for a year, where he was a teammate of Byron "Whizzer" White, who went on to become a Supreme Court Justice. The elder Belichick served in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he was head football, basketball and track coach at Hiram College for three years. He was an assistant football coach at Vanderbilt and North Carolina, before moving to the Naval Academy in 1956. He served under seven head coaches, helped coach two Heisman Trophy winners, and helped lead the Midshipmen to seven bowl games. He was also an associate professor of physical training.